Kevin & Vicki Bailey travelling in their restored 1935 Stinson Reliant SR-8C VH-UXL around Australia. It commenced March 25th with the crossing of the Nullabor, thru SA & in Victoria - attending the RAAF 90th Anniversary Pilgrimage, AAAA Annual fly-in at Echuca. Our plans are to see as much of Qld before turning left into Northern Territory and finally down the west coast of WA to home.

Monday, 14 May 2007

DAY 43 – 26th APRIL – KALGOORLIE TO MUNDIJONG

With only a three hour leg ahead of us we knew we didn’t have to worry. We woke at the usual 6am and I updated a bit more blog. We breakfasted in the room, showered and packed (mostly dirty) clothes into our bags. Out the front, waiting for a taxi by 8.30, the morning looked clear and a little crisp at about 12 degrees.

Out at the airport we loaded up after untying and unlocking her. We called for the Mobil fuel truck for the last time and who should turn up but Terry the ex Refueller from Jandakot. He and Kevin had known each other since the 70s and 80s from refuelling Tiger 66. He is retired and looked really well and we had a great catch up chat.

Cloud west of Kalgoorlie

We were flying under turbulent conditions with broken cloud at 2,500. We were trying to find a hole big enough to fly up through when an RPT called inbound to Kal. He was miles above us however Kev alerted him to our position and he stayed high until we had passed. He reported sighting us before letting down on his descent. I wondered what he thought the “little” GA aircraft was? As we flew the cloud base got higher and the conditions better.

Sarah spent that leg in the back seat reading a magazine! I took photographs of the topography especially in the areas where farms had recently had heavy rain and it had unfortunately scoured their paddocks, stripping the topsoil as it rapidly ran off to fill their dams with debris and sheep manure. These dams would then become sour and putrid, being toxic to stock and unuseable.

At Merriden we were asked to overfly at 3,000 feet however, a training pilot after taking off, climbed up through our level and obviously did not see us as he tracked directly toward us from the left. We had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. (Head in cockpit checking maps?) After landing we checked fuel levels to find that we did not need any so we piled back on board and roared back into the air.

Heading uneventfully to York, we circled Lyn Forster’s “Brooklands” and saw someone waving at the open hangar door. We then tracked over “Tiger Country” – the hills, including Mount Dale direct to Mundijong.

As we came down over the edge of the scarp at 120 knots I tried to sight our property ahead but couldn’t quite make it out – then there it was – all green looking great after leaving it so dry 6 weeks ago. We circled overhead to see Mark and the Carrs standing out by the gateway. An approach over those (bloody) high tension power lines (I felt like lifting my feet off the floor), we tried hard to lose speed and height. However the preparation and set up was perfect and so was the final landing of our wonderful ‘Round Aussie Trip’.

Happy Co-Pilot

It was so great to have Mark there to meet us. Our pets and the property all looked great thanks to our house sitters, the Carr family.